Last weekend The Munster Junior Cup took centre stage as the last thirty two teams took to the fields endeavouring to progress to the round of sixteen. Cashel hosted UL/Bohemians and prevailed in a tough entertaining game at Spafield. Underfoot conditions were good With UL/Bohs having the benefit of the wind in the first half. They used it effectively as their outhalf had an excellent boot and gained valuable ground a number of times as they dealt with the the fact that Cashel had most of the possession. They also had a big mobile pack. In the first quarter Tommy Anglim made two excellent breaks but the visitors defended well. Scores and indeed scoring opportunities were few and far between and the sides were deadlocked after thirty minutes with the only opportunity falling to UL/Bohs on twenty two minutes when they missed a penalty kick from the ten meter line. Then the breakthrough came. Cashel's Paul Hayes broke from the back of the scrum and from there backs and forwards went through the phases. Eamon Connolly made a break from the twenty two and brought play inside the five meter line, scrum half Kevin O'Connor threw a twenty meter pass like a bullet to Aidan O'Connor on the wing and he made no mistake to score a try in the corner to put Cashel five points ahead. Back came UL/Bohs who threw away an opportunity when a penalty kick was kicked dead in error. Another attack was stopped by an Eamonn Connolly tackle. There was no further score in the first half and Cashel led at half time 5 points to 0.
The second half was no less competitive with both sides running at every opportunity. Cashel looked more dangerous when they went wide with the ball. Aidan O'Connor made forty meters with a run on forty seven minutes only to be stopped just short of the line. The second score of the game was going to be vital and it came on the sixty third minute. A wonderful passing movement brought play to the UL/Bohs five meter line. The ball was knocked on resulting in a scrum for the defence. They picked and headed for the twenty two. The ball carrier knocked on in the tackle, the ball broke to John Ed O'Connor and he raced under the posts for that vital second score. Eamonn Connolly converted. John Ed O'Connor is a true warrior at thirty seven years of age. This score gave Cashel some breathing space but UL/Bohs never gave up and attacked again. Another sweeping backs movement brought Cashel into the danger zone again but they failed to score. Back came UL/Bohs with time almost up only to be stopped near the line by a brave tackle by Cashel's winger Paul Perrin. Conor Cashman put in a similar tackle as the final whistle blew. Final score Cashel 12 UL/Bohemians 0. It was a good tough cup game played in an excellent spirit. Cashel will play Richmond in the next round in Limerick in the round of sixteen. Cashel Team (1-20) C O'Donnell, K Murphy, M Kelly, R Moran, K Gleeson, A Butler, T Anglim, P Hayes, K O'Connor E Connolly, A O'Connor, J E O'Connor C Cashman, M O'Dwyer, Ryan O'Donnell, C Byrne, E McLoughlin, G Ryan, P Perrin, P Leamy.